The BENEFIT OF TECHNOLOGY
Christine, From Page 2. your day-to-day living? CHRISTINE: It allows for wonderful independence. I can work and play just like everyone else. Getting both me and my husband to work everyday would be difficult without it. I am blessed to have it. ATP: You use a lot of technology/accommodations for work use. Which have you found to be the easiest/hardest to get used to? Which do you think helps the most? CHRISTINE: The smaller keyboard, X-keys (a programmable keypad which allows one button access to a number of shortcuts), and adaptive trays (book holders) are all wonderful. I love the printer. It is very easy for me to work alone. I can print at my own leisure. I am still learning how to move the mouse via the infrared beam. Dragon (a voice recognition software that utilizes the users voice to dictate and edit documents and control applications) is great, however; I rarely get to use it because there is always background noise in my classroom, which interferes. My classroom at school is never free. Sometimes, I use |
it on the weekends. It is great for writing papers for my own classes. ATP: What is the overall impact of the assistive technologies that you use? CHRISTINE: This technology has impacted my life tremendously. It makes my life easier and much more efficient. Consequently, I feel like I can be a better teacher because I can spend more time tutoring my students and developing new plans. ATP: Did you come to ATP knowing there were so many options/technologies available to help? CHRISTINE: I absolutely had no idea there were so many options out there. ATP: How have the school employer, other teachers, and students reacted towards the accommodations? CHRISTINE: South High has always been supportive of me and all my accommodations. All my technology has really impacted my students as well. They are able to see how it helps someone like me. In fact, one of my students is thinking about going into assistive technology. |
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ATP: Making a DifferenceThe number of “Assistive Technology for All” demonstrations, loans and transactions climbed over 1500 in 2007, impacting over 300 technology purchases, accommodating many consumers during device repairs or while waiting for funding, and continues to serve numerous individuals on a long-term basis through reutilization.
Evelyn Watches Ann Demonstrate the LightWriter. Evelyn Turpen sat across the table in anticipation as I, Ann Rodhouse, ATP Education Technology Specialist, opened boxes containing communication devices that I had brought to show her and her Speech/Language Pathologist, Cristi Copsey. After discussing some of the benefits of each device, we looked specifically at the LightWriter because it was the best match to Evelyn’s needs. This device was available for Evelyn to try out as a part of AT4ALL, and as I offered it to Evelyn to consider, her face lit up as she “spoke” her first phrases with it. She had never seen a communication device before. One of her first questions was whether young children would talk with a device like this one. Evelyn knew from experience what it is like to go through school unable to be understood by others. Here is the story of the most remarkable See ATP, page 4. |
